\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi turns 39 on Wednesday, and while fans are preparing a nationwide tribute, you\u2019ll undoubtedly want to present him with something special if you\u2019re invited to the celebrations.<\/p>\n
Choosing a gift for someone who pretty much has it all can be challenging. But fear not, for the Herald has come through in the clutch with a list of five great gifts for Messi, based on his revealed interests and passions.<\/p>\n
Option 1 \u2013 Michael Jordan meet and greet Considering Messi is the hero and reference point for so many people around the world, it\u2019s easy to forget the man has idols of his own, and United States basketball legend Michael Jordan is one of them.<\/p>\n
In an interview with journalist Pablo Varsky, Messi revealed his admiration for Jordan after watching the docuseries The Last Dance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports-wise, I think [Jordan] is the greatest ever,\u201d said Messi. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame I didn\u2019t get to experience that era firsthand. I would have loved to. I\u2019m not the biggest basketball fan, but it was something different across all sports,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Messi admitted he\u2019s never met Jordan and would love to have his picture taken with him, so arranging for a meet and greet or a dinner with the Chicago Bulls\u2019 legend is bound to get you on the Argentine star\u2019s good list.<\/p>\n
Option 2 \u2013 Coldplay memorabilia It\u2019s no secret that Messi and his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, are fans of the British alternative rock band led by Chris Martin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In July 2025, they became the second-most famous couple \u2014 the first one was not so\u00a0happy to get caught \u2014 to be targeted by the band\u2019s Kiss Cam during a show in Miami, where 60,000 people ended up chanting his name like it was just another Argentina game.<\/p>\n
At the time, Martin was quite happy to see the Argentine star among his crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo, my beautiful brother, you and your wife are looking so fine. Thanks for coming today to see the band play. The number one sportsman of all time,\u201d he said after the camera spotted Messi and Antonela.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s quite obvious that Messi can afford tickets to see the band, so ringing up Chris Martin for one of his hand-painted guitars to gift the Argentine star is the move here.<\/p>\n
Option 3 \u2013 Super Bowl VIP Tickets Messi\u2019s affinity for all kinds of sports, not just football, is well documented. From his comments on Jordan and tennis legend Rafael Nadal to clips of him playing paddle, it\u2019s clear he\u2019s a man for all games.<\/p>\n
In recent years, however, he\u2019s taken a bigger interest in the National Football League (NFL) after moving to the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am learning a lot about [NFL],\u201d he told the Big Time podcast in 2024. \u201cI have come to understand it more and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Messi was already featured once in the Super Bowl, the league\u2019s annual championship final game, as the star of a halftime commercial alongside actor Jason Sudeikis and Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino.<\/p>\n
If he\u2019s taking a bigger interest in it, he\u2019ll enjoy VIP tickets to walk the field and meet the players. Just be sure to get five for the whole family.<\/p>\n
Option 4 \u2013 A new parrilla Despite living most of his life abroad, Lionel Messi has not forgotten about his Argentine roots. Together with his ubiquitous mate, a typical asado (Argentine barbecue) remains a major interest of his.<\/p>\n
In 2023, he surprised the owners of Laboratorio de Hierro, a grill manufacturer in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province, by sending them an Instagram message to purchase a new model and asking whether they could ship it to his home in Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to have Messi as part of our community, and we hope that La Parrilla del Capit\u00e1n (the Captain\u2019s Grill) brings him as much joy as he has brought us,\u201d the business posted on Instagram when they presented the model they sent to him.<\/p>\n
While he\u2019ll undoubtedly be happy with his current cooking station, a new one is a can\u2019t-miss gift option for Messi.<\/p>\n
Option 5 \u2013 A football club We admit this is a bit of an expensive option, but for the guy who\u2019s won almost every trophy he\u2019s ever had a chance to compete for, you\u2019re going to have to splash some cash.<\/p>\n
In recent times, Messi has admitted to being tempted by the idea of owning a football club as his post-retirement project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to have my own club,\u201d he said in a 2026 interview with the streaming channel Luzu TV, admitting he doesn\u2019t see himself as a head coach in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStart from the bottom and be able to give opportunities to young players, to people, to help them grow and to build an important club,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
The Argentine captain has already dabbled in ownership, with his joint venture alongside longtime teammate and friend Luis Su\u00e1rez at Deportivo LSM in the Uruguayan lower divisions and Leones de Rosario FC, which he founded with his family.<\/p>\n
For the kind of grassroots ownership experience Messi seems to be craving, however, you\u2019ll have to fork out close to US$1 million \u2014 roughly what an English National League club goes for these days.<\/p>\n
But you can\u2019t quite put a price on friendship, can you?<\/p>\n
Cover image: Seleccion Argentina Twitter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi turns 39 on Wednesday, and while fans are preparing a nationwide tribute, you\u2019ll undoubtedly want to present him with something special if you\u2019re invited to the celebrations. Choosing a gift for someone who pretty much has it all can be challenging. But fear not, for the Herald has come through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":81082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1373,1389,67,1867],"tags":[1371,11847,1369,1864],"class_list":["post-81081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lionel-messi","category-messi","category-sports","category-stars","tag-lionel-messi","tag-messi","tag-sports","tag-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}